FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lisa Bokovoy
404.220.2116, lbokovoy@americasmart.com
ICON HONORS 2015: THE CALL FOR ENTRIES
OPENS NOW
Competition for Top Achievement in the Home and Gift
Industry’s Most Celebrated Recognition
ATLANTA, October 21, 2014—The ICON HONORS 2015 call for
entries opens today in pursuit of top achievers competing for recognition in
the home and gift industry’s most celebrated and coveted mark of
accomplishment.
The sixth-annual ICON HONORS extends to retailers,
manufacturers, sales agencies and service providers the invitation to seek
their place on a global stage reserved for those whose professional and
personal achievements are declared superior in rigorous adjudication
across a field of 16 distinct categories of competition.
ICON HONORS is produced and staged by AmericasMart® Atlanta
in exclusive partnership with the Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA)
and Progressive Business Media, and in affiliation with Gift For Life.
With a coterie of 60 Honorees recorded over its first five years—from
every dimension of the home and gift industry—ICON HONORS in 2015
will again recognize the highest levels of achievement from a diverse field
of submissions and nominations posted across the call for entries period
ending March 16, 2015. ICON HONORS are conferred annually in July
in conjunction with The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings
Market® on what is universally recognized as the most anticipated and
important night in the home and gift industry.
-more-
-continuedAll ICON HONORS submissions and nominations are made
exclusively online at ICONHONORS.com. New to ICON HONORS
2015—and conferred separately from entries received in open submissions
and nominations—is the Progressive Business Media Marketing
Messaging to Retailers Honor. The new Honor recognizes superior
achievement in manufacturing and sales organizations creating multichannel business-to-business marketing campaigns that have produced
successful sales results and strong brand value propositions.
The four ICON HONORS recognition categories, with their individual
subsections, include:
INNOVATION
Innovation 1: Technology Innovations/Marketing; Technology
Innovations/Networking; and Technology Innovations/Selling.
Innovation 2: Product Innovations/New Products; Product
Innovations/Redesigned Products; and Product Innovations/Licensed
Products.
Innovation 3: Packaging Innovations/New Designs; Packaging
Innovations/New Material; and Packaging Innovations/Eco-Friendly.
CONTRIBUTION
Contribution 1: Community Influence/Business Development and
Community Influence/Outreach.
Contribution 2: Industry Influence/Leadership and Industry
Influence/Cause-Related Product.
BRANDING
Branding/Identity: Brand Identity Development/Brand Launch;
Brand Identity Development/Brand Continuity; and Brand Identity
Development/Rebranding.
ACHIEVEMENT
Achievement 1: New Achiever.
Achievement 2: Career Achiever.
-more-
-continuedICON HONORS additionally confers special recognition through the
Lifetime Achievement Honor, AmericasMart Medal of Excellence Honor
and The GHTA/Gift For Life Honor of Excellence. These Honors are
conferred at the sole discretion of the ICON HONORS governing board
representing the partners. Those named as Honorees in this level of
recognition include truly iconic brands such as Hallmark, Barbara Bradley
Baekgaard (Vera Bradley), catstudio, Century Furniture, Restoration
Hardware, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Retail, Anthropologie, the
Williamsburg Brand of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and others.
Honorees are selected through extensive adjudication by highly
qualified experts drawn from the world of design, manufacturing and
product development. The 2015 call for entries continues through March
16, 2015, with adjudication immediately following. The 2015 ICON
HONORS celebration is set for Thursday, July 9 as the signature event of
The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market®.
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